It promises to be a thrilling occassion and a fiery match – the biggest rematch in world cricket lands at Emirates Riverside next year!
England take on the West Indies on Saturday, 16 September (6:30pm start) in a re-run of April’s ICC World T20 final, with the Windies coming out on top in a pulsating finale.
This is one of the biggest fixtures in cricket’s 2017 international calendar – and we give you five reasons why it is an unmissable event!
Either side can realistically claim to have some of the biggest hitters in world cricket – expect fireworks from the off!
Heading up the West Indies is Chris Gayle, the world’s leading T20 run-scorer and hitter of monstrous sixes. Carlos Brathwaite needs no introduction either after his final heroics while Dwayne Bravo & Kieron Pollard have been known to launch balls out of stadiums.
But England have their own men capable of huge hits. It starts from the top with Alex Hales & Jason Roy and continues down to Jos Buttler, arguably England’s finest talent in the limited-overs formats.
Wily spin, super quick bowlers & an ability to manoeuvre the ball to all areas – it’s not just the big hitters that make this a fascinating match-up.
Ben Stokes is dynamic in all three facets of the game while counterpart Marlon Samuels played a man-of-the-match innings in April’s final – more on those two a bit further down…
England’s middle-order comprises of Joe Root, rated the seventh best batsman in the format, alongside captain Eoin Morgan, whose range of sweeps & reverse sweeps were pioneering moves for England in the shortest format. Mark Wood brings fire with the ball as one of world cricket’s quickest bowlers.
Add in the world’s third-ranked bowler in T20, Samuel Badree, alongside the mystery spin of Sunil Narine and you have a recipe for one highly intriguing cricket match.
There’s no atmosphere quite like it when England come to town – especially with bragging rights at stake in a one-off NatWest IT20.
With a sell-out crowd expected at Emirates Riverside, prepare for a great evening of cricket under the lights.
There’s always a range of cricket-related activities while plenty of bars are open around the ground, so there’s lots of entertainment to enjoy before the main event commences!
Such was the nature of England’s defeat in that final, with victory snatched away at the last, that the Three Lions are desperate to get one over on their counterparts.
Things got heated last time out as well, with West Indian all-rounder Samuels giving Stokes a verbal hammering and there is certainly no love lost between the pair.
In fact, the Windies were accused of bad sportsmanship as a group after their exuberent, over-the-top celebrations and failure to acknowledge the efforts of their opponents after the match.
April’s final is firmly written into the history books but a win at Durham could at least be a small bit of consolation for Trevor Bayliss’s men.
Major tournaments tend to reflect the wider status of teams; England & the West Indies are two of the best T20 teams in world cricket.
This is your chance to see the very best of international cricket at Emirates Riverside, with adult tickets starting from just £35.
It is not every day the pinnacle of any sport comes to the North East; do not pass up on the opporunity to see it in action!
Less than 40 tickets remain available in the Don Robson Pavilion for this huge international fixture. To secure your seat, click here.